Yes. Find a good machinist - mill out two large wheels with cable channels, fit them with Timken tapered aircraft roller bearings, mount them on a frame, fit a articulating sled to hold the camera. Then slide it down a cable..... stopping it is the trick! A good fabrication will set you back anywhere from 3 to 5K USD.

I?ve got a few examples of shots done with one on my website if you want to have a peak ? linked under Hotel Heliconia Opening and Autumn Color.

You can purchase very smooth sheaves and bearings from Fenner Drives (http://www.fennerdrives.com/, Make sure you also get the correct spacers, as 17mm shaft is hard to work with). You can build a simple cablecam rig without any machining, using off the shelf parts. The specific design is up to you, but I suggest calling fenner for your sheaves, as they're smooth, high speed and high load, and synthetic, so they're quieter on cable. While it's more expensive, I also suggest using a synthetic 12 strand rope like Tech 12 (http://www.samsonrope.com/), as it will be quieter and have less vibration than steal cable.

Brilliant link Jason. I love the Lego cablecam! Also thanks very much for sharing the Fenner link - I'm already thinking about a purchase. On the rope vs. cable - although the rope can run a bit quieter I can never stretch it tight enough compared to aircraft cable.

Glad to help. As a note, the rope I recommended is a cable replacement rope, generally used as a wire rope replacement on winches. It's stretch is negligable, and it's load rated about 2x what the same sized cable is rated.

Good luck. I've got a picture of a cable trolly I built that I'll post when I find it (or go take another one), designed for flying people.

Brilliant link Jason. I love the Lego cablecam! Also thanks very much for sharing the Fenner link - I'm already thinking about a purchase. On the rope vs. cable - although the rope can run a bit quieter I can never stretch it tight enough compared to aircraft cable.

This is my cable cam system in it's 3rd revision.. There are many ideas you could borrow from it if you look carefully. I am presently working on my own remote head for it ( the scorpio head is nice but expensive).

I have been working on a low budget cable cam on and off for about a year now. It is designed for a small camera, but works great at filming mountain biking. I also started forum that is dedicated to DIY cable cams, helmet cams & other odd camera setups. Its brand new so please excuse the lack of info, hope to get others to post up there creations.. www.cablecam.org

SO here is the latest model features:Forward, reverse, brakeRotationTiltremote start stop of cameraFits in a large backpack

Sample Video here (this was the very first session so I was off on the timing here and there, and everwhere, but a good start)